Holland (studio album) by The Beach Boys

Holland is just sublime from start to finish, easily the 4th best Beach Boys album after Pet Sounds, Smile (not technically an album) and Surfs up, it’s on a par with Wild Honey which is also ranked too low. The EP is indulgent nonsense but shouldn’t take anything away from the greatness of the album.

I feel that a lot of the negative attention that this album receives is due to the awful spoken word EP that was included with the album, and is now tacked onto all CDs and digital versions of the album. Let me make one thing clear, according to the band, the Mt. Vernon EP is separate from the album that is Holland, which runs from "Sail On, Sailor" through "Funky Pretty".

Now that that's out of the way, lets get on to the content of the album. It is incredible, emotional, and in some ways ahead of its time. Sail On, Sailor is a fantastic tune reminiscent of the Beach Boy's early work. Steamboat utilizes the found sounds of tugboat noises as some pretty awesome percussion, and the song has this dreamlike rolling melody to it. Big Sur is a beautiful song that makes one long for a vacation in the redwoods. The Beaks of Eagles is a spoken word song, but is broken up by enough wonderful Beach Boys harmonies to still be quite beautiful.

Then we come to California. As a California native who has lived and driven in just about every part of the state, I can't help but feel this song was written specifically for me. This song brings me back to road trips I had in the early Spring, where the air was pristine, the weather was cool, and the ocean was beautiful. This song never fails to help me feel pride in my state, and remind me of the love I have for its nature.

The Trader is without a doubt one of my favorite songs of all time. In 1973, Marlon Brando declined his Oscar and ceded his speech to a Native American woman, who talked of the injustices done to Native Americans in the past and in the current day. This event brought a lot of attention to the plight of Indigenous peoples living in the USA, and inspired people such as Neil Young to write a multitude of protest songs (such as Pocahontas) about the subject. What is so impressive about The Trader is that it explores these themes a year before Marlon Brando's Oscars win (the song was recorded in 1972). Not only that, but it does so in a tasteful and breathtakingly beautiful way that condemns white America's idea of Manifest Destiny. History lesson aside, Carl Wilson's vocal performance here is what steals the show. I remember reading in Rolling Stone's list of best vocalists, under Jon Lennon they said that it is harder to make your voice soft and tender than loud and powerful. Carl Wilson I feel, with this song, eclipses any tender moment on a Jon Lennon song. In the outro of this song, Carl sings with such an incredible vibrato, that is so quiet, tender, and controlled. It makes me tear up every time.

"Leaving this Town" and "Only with You" are two pretty ballads with not a lot to talk about.

"Funky Pretty" is a fun tune that brings the energy back up close to the levels of "Sail on Sailor". After the dour last few tracks, this is a wonderfully silly way to close out the album.

Holland is the last Beach Boys album that I think is truly incredible. After this the Beach Boys destroyed their voices with drugs and smoking, and gave Brian Wilson too much creative control of the band considering his fragile mental state. It hurts me to see some publications give this album such bad reviews when it is easily on the same level as Sunflower, Surf's Up ,SMiLE, and yes, even Pet Sounds.

From LebowskiRams 11/02/2020 01:19

Top 5 Beach Boys album

From LebowskiRams 02/11/2019 00:47

Funky Pretty is one of the Beach Boys' best songs, regardless of era or singer

In an effort to refocus, The Beach Boys were sent to the Netherlands to record. Brian was in a fragile mental state, obsessively listening to Randy Newman’s masterpiece Sail Away, and his two songs were tacked onto the album later. Like Sunflower, Holland is a successful democratic album with everyone contributing competent material; even Mike Love writes a likeable song in ‘Big Sur’ and the Chaplin and Fataar contribution ‘Leaving This Town’ fits in fine. Carl contributes the album’s strongest piece, ‘Trader’, but the album would still feel thin without the Brian contributions that bookend it.

From flamingyesdept 08/28/2016 10:46

I can't believe this is not even ranked in The Beach Boys' top 10 albums on this site

From flamingyesdept 08/28/2016 10:40

The Trader is incredible!

From travelful 06/03/2015 22:09

I love the California Saga songs!

The California Saga is fantastic.

great album!!!